Lunch Tuesday: Sadie’s Diner
Posted September 14, 2010 7:08 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Let’s get this out of the way immediately: Sadie’s Diner is really, very, almost self-consciously, cute.
The outside walls and inside table tops are painted a bright, cheerful aqua. The booths are covered in cherry-red vinyl. The milk comes in a pitcher shaped like a cow, there’s a built-in glass display case stocked with Pez dispensers, and the hours on the analog clock are marked by Campbell’s Tomato Soup cans.
And yes, the signature swallow can be found swooping everywhere from the cash register to the outdoor tables.
The restaurant (504 Adelaide St. W.) is frankly hard to miss. It has been a bright blue beacon leading the way off of the beaten path for nearly four years, offering a vegetarian menu with many vegan options to its loyal – and in my case, first-time – customers since 2007.
As with any new and unfamiliar activity, I took a buddy with me. This time, it was Priya Panda, lead singer of Diemonds (we also went to university together).
We started with mixed vegetable samosas ($4). There were two fluffy tennis-ball-sized dumplings in our order, not crisp as expected but wrapped in something like naan bread. They were filled with peas and potatoes and studded with cumin seeds, and came with a sweet tamarind chutney.
Priya Panda.
Next, it was on to the mains. They offer breakfast all day and Priya definitely took advantage. She ordered the huevos rancheros ($10), but made them vegan with tofu and soy cheese. She also ordered them extra-spicy, doused in hot sauce and covered in jalapenos – which definitely killed our plans to share. Still, I tried it, and while the texture of the tofu was a pretty close mimic to scrambled eggs, the same could not be said of the cheese. Or cheese product. Or whatever the orange shreds on top of the dish were calling themselves.
Here’s the thing: I’m not a fan of vegetarian food that pretends to be meat-filled food. I like vegetables. I think they are delicious. I enjoy eating them – that’s why I chose a plant-based restaurant. There was no reason to use fake cheese here. The tofu scramble was pretty tasty on its own and doesn’t need to fake it.
Next up was chili sin carne ($7), meatless chili on a bed of greens – – and yes, that’s real cheese in the picture below. It was simple, healthy, and just enough food without being filling However, the chili could have been more heavily spiced.
Our lunch for two, including tax, was less than $25. Sadie’s Diner also offers smoothies and a take-out menu, but no delivery. On the weekends, they offer brunch and there’s often a line-up.
